Area law enforcement agencies — and some local taxi companies — are gearing up for what they expect will be a busy New Year’s Eve. And the goal is the same for officers and cabbies: keeping drunken drivers off the road.

Missouri is preparing to start screening every newborn baby for congenital heart defects, although local medical personnel say they already have added the test to their list of checkup procedures for infants.

Taxpayers in Missouri have one last day to pay real estate and personal property taxes without penalty, and that deadline has resulted in long lines in county collectors’ offices in Jasper and Newton counties.